Mr. vanBuskirk stated to PeaceMakers that he is now following his attorney's
directions to not talk with anyone about his case and to see a certain
therapist (who John says appears non-Christian) for counseling. I
informed John this was unbiblical and that he was to immediately seek spiritual
counsel from his elders.

What is worth noting the "elders" of Forest River Bible Chapel seemingly
failed in their Biblical stewardship of Christ's authority of caring enough
for this family to know them well enough to have possibly prevented this
crime. Not only did they not know, nor did they ask, said John vanBuskirk,
but they directed this family NOT to accept Biblical Counseling from our
PeaceMakers Fellowship in dealing with such issues, [which was rejected
about the time of the child sexual abuse] citing the elder's concerns of
their communications and participation with PeaceMakers being open to biblical
review. (publically rebuking a sinning elder-1 Timothy 5:19-21) and
(telling it to the church-Matthew 18:15-20)

Mr. vanBuskirk was further instructed by PeaceMakers to full allocuttion
of his criminal behavior and with thanksgiving accept the court's
sentencing and seek protection orders from the court against himself, so
that never again would he be a threat to his children or any others. Mr.
vanBuskirk rejected these instructions, and is seeking to stay out of jail,
and have full access to his children.

1/28/2003 Rev. Donald Hoover, Lincoln Bible Church (217)735-5959
2316 N Kickapoo St, Lincoln, IL and members Tom and Loretta VanHook
(in-laws of Mr. vanBuskirk) appear in concert and cooperation with Forest
River and Mr. vanBuskirk, sharing in their shame and ungodliness.

1/28/2003 Carl E. and Gladys Schanstra, Jr. a study co-leader of Willow
Creek Community Church (in-laws of Mr. VanBuskirk) appear in concert and
cooperation with Forest River and Mr. vanBuskirk, sharing in their shame
and ungodliness.

Now it seems God's judgment is public and shameful upon them all and
all invitations to date encouraging their repentance are met with silence.

Dear Mr. Fields,

We commend you for your excellent articles on clergy sexual abuse.
We wondered, however,
if you are aware that the sexual exploitation of counseling clients and/or
recipients of other kinds of private, pastoral care is ALSO criminal in
over 20 states.

As coordinators of faith-based resources for victims of sexual exploitation
by professionals for AdvocateWeb, we would be interested in hearing your
response to women (and occasionally men) who have been sexually exploited
by clergy when they were going to them for counseling or other kinds of
help.

In our experience as evangelicals who offer peer support to CSA victims,
too many churches see the victims of sexual exploitation by a predatorial
pastors as "just rewards" for women (and occasionally men) who have not
been able to defend their sexual boundaries when it is invaded by some
helper in authority over them. Too often, our church leaders call
these criminal acts "an affair" -- and blame the counselee for being "equally
responsible" -- even in states like ours (Minnesota) where sexual exploitation
by helping professionals is criminal sexual conduct in the third degree
-- a felony!

We would appreciate seeing something in your series of articles addressing
this particular type of abuse. Two prominent evangelical Christians,
Peter Mosgofian and George Ohlschlager published a book in 1995 ("Sexual
Misconduct in Counseling and Ministry") warning that sexual predators in
the ministry and other helping professions is one of the major social problems
in our nation today. The following stories explain why sexual contact
between a counselor and counselee is NEVER consensual, NEVER an "affair."

The flood of sex abuse allegations against priests this year has focused
attention on the Roman Catholic Church, but Protestant denominations have
also faced sex scandals involving clergy over the years.

In fact, while data are sketchy, at least one expert believes the incidence
of clergy molesting young children may be about as frequent — or infrequent
— in Protestantism as it is in Catholicism.

Others have found Protestant scandals have a tendency to surface in
cases where male ministers are counseling women or teen-age girls, while
the allegations against priests have frequently involved underage males.

Penn State historian Philip Jenkins argued in his 1996 book, "Pedophiles
and Priests," that both secular and Catholic media exaggerate the extent
of Catholic cases involving minors, while downplaying Protestant abuse.

For instance, the Rev. Robert Eckert of Grand Rapids, Mich., a minister
in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, was sent to prison in 2000 for
sexual involvement with a 15-year-old girl who worked as his baby sitter
— but the case received relatively little attention.

Jenkins, an Episcopalian, thinks a 1992 survey from the Chicago Archdiocese
is more representative of the true picture in Catholicism.

Among 2,252 priests serving over four decades, 39 priests (1.7 percent)
apparently abused minors. Only one abuser could be termed a pedophile under
the strict, clinical definition of the word — meaning the victim was prepubescent.

"I am prepared to be convinced the Catholics have a bigger problem"
than Protestants, Jenkins said, but nobody has good data, partly because
Protestant groups are too numerous. "I certainly haven't seen anything,
and I'm looking hard."

Minneapolis psychologist Gary Schoener agreed.

"There are no real scientific data" on Protestants, he said. Since 1974,
his Walk-In Counseling Center has been consulted on more than 2,000 cases
of clergy sexual misconduct of all types, two-thirds of them with Protestants.

He finds that sex with adult women or teen-age girls is the most frequent
Protestant problem.

In a typical Protestant case, a jury awarded $10 million in February
to relatives of the late Deborah Yardley of Columbus, Ohio.

The suit charged that the Rev. Steven Colliflower, a United Methodist,
had an affair with Yardley when she sought his help with alcohol and emotional
problems. He left the ministry shortly after she made the allegation. She
later died of liver disease.

The conservative World magazine says Protestantism faces a "severe problem"
of clergy involvement with people the ministers are counseling, calling
this "an egregious abuse of power."

Schoener said that clergy having sex with prepubescent victims is "very
rare" in all denominations.

A study of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), covering eight states over
six years, found 17 cases filed against clergy with 31 victims, all female,
with one case involving a minor.

There are also differences between Catholicism and the many Protestant
faiths in the way sex abuse allegations are investigated.

The U.S. Catholic bishops adopted a set of principles in 1992 calling
for rapid response to allegations, openness with parishioners, care for
victims and compliance with secular laws on reporting criminal conduct.
But some Catholic bishops have admitted they didn't always follow those
guidelines.

The Catholic principles also say a priest should be "promptly" suspended
and referred for medical evaluation upon "sufficient evidence" of misconduct.
The matter of reassignment is left open for a decision later.

In the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, at least, events occur
more rapidly.

Bishop Donald McCoid of Pittsburgh, chair of the Conference of Bishops
for the 5.1-million-member denomination, said when colleagues receive allegations
against clergy "anything else on our agenda is dropped." If a pastor admits
the charge, he said, the bishop defrocks him within a day and refers charges
involving minors to civil authorities.

Another difference: Protestant lay officers — most of them mothers and
fathers — exercise pivotal powers in supervising clergy. Catholic power
is held almost completely by ordained bishops or religious superiors.

Lutheran — as well as Methodist or Presbyterian clergy who claim innocence
— are put on leave but can defend themselves through church trials and
appeals.

During debates over homosexual behavior, those three denominations have
defined clergy standards that limit sexual conduct to heterosexual marriage
and require chastity for singles.

It's difficult to assess the response to abuse accusations in Baptist
and other denominations, where each local congregation handles cases.

The most important example is the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest
Protestant group in the United States with 101,000 clergy, double the total
of U.S. Catholic priests and brothers. In the past decade, its press service
reported two charges of molesting minors, against a youth worker and a
martial arts teacher.

But Dee Ann Miller of Council Bluffs, Iowa, says misconduct is more
widespread.

Since writing a 1993 book about her own abuse by a missionary in Africa,
she has been told of allegations against 22 Southern Baptist clergy involved
with minors, including six who molested prepubescent children.

Miller charges that the denomination has ignored the problem. Sounding
just like a Catholic activist, she said abuse will "only stop when laity
get upset enough to hold their leaders responsible for incompetency."

Breaking faith

As sexual scandal rocks the Roman Catholic church, Protestants face a lurking
sex scandal as well. Will churches and national organizations take biblical
steps to prevent further shame?

By Lynn Vincent
WARNING: THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT AN OFFENSIVE SITUATION AND THEREFORE
CONTAINS OFFENSIVE MATERIAL. PARENTAL DISCRETION IS HIGHLY ADVISED.

Sometimes the truth is unpleasant. No one enjoys discussing the lives
shattered when shepherds turn out to be wolves. But Paul told the Ephesians:
Do not only shun the "unfruitful works of darkness, but instead even expose
them." Though the apostle concedes it is disgraceful even to speak of wicked
things done in secret, he adds that exposure drags dark deeds into the
light, waking "sleeping" believers that they in turn might walk wisely.

A disturbing pattern of sexual exploitation is afoot in some churches,
including churches that generally teach biblical truth. As God told Cain,
sin is always crouching at the door, making it essential for both church
leaders and members to understand the problem and its warning signs, if
they are not to fall into nightmares like these:

In Homestead, Pa., William Michael Altman, senior pastor at nondenominational
Grace Christian Ministries, visits the hospital bedside of Marcia Bezak.
Mrs. Bezak, a childhood molestation survivor with a 15-year history of
depression and eating disorders, has just attempted suicide for at least
the third time. According to Mrs. Bezak's testimony in a civil suit she
filed in 2000, Mr. Altman says he will counsel her and help her recover.
During counseling Mr. Altman tells her that her husband does not understand
or appreciate her; he also allegedly convinces her that it is God's will
that she regularly perform oral sex on him. When confronted, Mr. Altman
confesses the relationship to church leaders, but later claims it was a
consensual affair.

In Fergus Falls, Minn., Nazarene pastor Mervin Kelley initiates sex
with a female parishioner who came to him suffering from clinical depression
related to childhood incest. While providing spiritual aid and comfort,
Mr. Kelley tells the woman, who is also the church pianist, about his past
experience of having sex with animals. He also tells her he wants to engage
in homosexual acts, and invites her to watch. Before preaching on Sundays,
he sometimes leaves a "gift" for her on the church piano: a tissue containing
his semen. When confronted, Mr. Kelley claims the relationship was a consensual
affair.

In Detroit, Haman Cross Jr., pastor of Rosedale Park Baptist Church
and a nationally known speaker on sexual purity, begins counseling parishioner
Donna Scott, first for marital sexual troubles, then for problems related
to childhood sexual abuse. According to Mrs. Scott's testimony, Mr. Cross
gives her pornography, convinces her that "phone sex" with him will improve
her marital sex life, and convinces her that sexual contact with him will
help heal her incest wounds. In deposition testimony, Mr. Cross denies
saying that the sexual contact was therapy and instead claims the relationship
was a consensual affair.

While northeastern precincts of the Roman Catholic Church writhe in
the bonds of yet another sex scandal—more than 80 priests accused of pedophilia
and other abuse—the Protestant church has a severe problem of its own:
some pastoral counselors having sex with counselees. Such contact can be
classified biblically as "adultery" or "fornication," but often is not
a "consensual affair." It is sexual abuse—and an egregious abuse of power
that can rob women of their faith in clergy, in the institution of the
church, and even in God.

Sexual contact during or after any counseling relationship is considered
grossly unethical by a broad slice of professional counseling groups, including
the American Association of Christian Counselors, the American Association
of Pastoral Counselors, and the National Association of Social Workers.
That's because of the power counselors hold over clients—power born of
authority and being privy to clients' most intimate emotions and fears.
Experts say this power is magnified in pastoral counseling.

"With ministers, we let down our guard," said Kansas behavioral medicine
specialist Richard Irons. "The counselee often sees the minister not only
as a professional with her best interests at heart, but also at times as
the very instrument of God's healing power, and possibly as her last refuge
of hope."

When a pastor steals that hope by sexualizing a counseling relationship,
damage to women can range from depression to relationship trouble to suicide,
said Gary Schoener, a Minneapolis psychologist who has consulted in more
than 3,000 clergy sexual abuse (CSA) cases since 1980.

Peter warned the early church of "false teachers" who "seduce the unstable
... entice by sensual passions of the flesh," who promise freedom while
"they themselves are slaves of corruption." Since most women don't report
CSA and most churches don't publicize it, its frequency today is difficult
to pinpoint. Joe E. Trull, co-author of the book Ministerial Ethics (1993),
helped write the CSA policy for the Texas Baptist General Convention. From
his study of literature on clergy sexual abuse, he concludes that "from
30 to 35 percent of ministers of all denominations admit to having sexual
relationships—from inappropriate touching and kissing to sexual intercourse—outside
of marriage." Mr. Trull estimates that "at least half" of that contact
occurs in pastoral counseling.

No current theological breakdown of offending pastors exists, but a
1984 Fuller Seminary survey of 1,200 ministers showed one in five theologically
conservative pastors admitting to some sexual contact outside of marriage
with a church member, while over two-fifths of "moderate" and half of "liberal"
pastors owned up to the same.

A Journal of Pastoral Care article summarizing a 1993 survey of Southern
Baptist pastors showed 6 percent acknowledging sexual contact outside of
marriage with someone in the congregation. Roy Woodruff, executive director
of the 3,000-member Association of Pastoral Counselors, estimates that
about 15 percent of pastors "either have [violated] or are violating sexual
ethical boundaries."

Today, 20 states have made sexual or therapeutic deception by professional
counselors a crime. Typically, clergy are included in these statutes if
they are offering advice for emotional or mental problems. Some states,
including Minnesota and Texas, also criminalize sexual contact resulting
from pastoral care relationships. But some churches are unwilling to deal
biblically with the issue. As Peter Mosgofian and George Ohlschlager write
in their book Sexual Misconduct in Counseling and Ministry, "churches often
are split between warring camps; and victims are treated in ways that eventually
result in lawsuits."

"Most churches in cases I handle come in and try to cover it up," said
Denver attorney Joyce Seelen, who handles about a dozen CSA cases each
year. "The notion of the church telling people to be quiet, then quietly
transferring the minister, happens all the time." Sometimes, congregations
and denominations turn pastors into victims with unbiblical excuses: "If
only his wife had satisfied him, he wouldn't have fallen," or "If only
that wicked woman hadn't seduced him." A website, www. advocateweb.com,
has detailed information about clergy sexual abuse.

In 1995, Donna Scott emerged as "the wicked woman"
in the minds of some members of Detroit's Rosedale Park Baptist Church.
Pastor Haman Cross Jr., however, never left his pulpit, though church leaders
learned details of his behavior during a 1997 lawsuit brought by Mrs. Scott
and her husband Bertram. Mr. Cross also continued to speak on behalf of
Campus Crusade for Christ, even though Crawford Loritts, Crusade's associate
director of U.S. Ministries, was told in 1997 of Mr. Cross's relationship
with Mrs. Scott.

In 1988, Bertram and Donna Scott began attending Rosedale Park Baptist,
where Mr. Cross, a fiery preacher, nurtured a growing congregation. In
1989, Mrs. Scott lost interest in marital relations following the birth
of the couple's son. Mr. Scott sought counseling with Pastor Cross. Mrs.
Scott didn't like the idea of counseling since she thought she would be
blamed for the trouble in her marriage, but she relented.

In the beginning, Mr. Cross counseled the Scotts together, giving them
what he called "resources" that he said would help them overcome bedroom
troubles. Early "resources" seemed just clinical enough to be credible,
but rank pornography followed: a photo-illustrated guide to oral sex, at
least one hardcore video, and a brochure touting films featuring "raunchy
girl-girl sex" and a "full blown orgy."

That Mr. Cross would counsel them on sexual technique did not seem out
of the ordinary to the Scotts. He had previously taught "Improving Your
Love Life" church seminars. In them he coached parishioners about erogenous
zones.

By 1990 Mrs. Scott says she was having some individual counseling sessions
with Mr. Cross that started to end in what she calls an "extended full-body
hug." Although Mrs. Scott says she was somewhat uncomfortable at first,
she decided to trust that her pastor's intentions were pure.

Psychologist Elizabeth Horst, author of Shame-Healing for Victims of
Clergy Abuse, said pastors who intend to sexualize a counseling relationship
often break the ice with an innocent-seeming embrace. "Most of us would
be able to say 'no' to a pastor who outright requested sex in the first
meeting," Ms. Horst said. Therefore, offending pastors sometimes engage
in a process known clinically as "grooming."

Grooming progresses from touch that seems innocent to touch that is
more recognizably sexual, such as sensuous massage or a kiss on the lips.
"The offender may still insist that this behavior is not sexual, by labeling
it 'healthy exploration' ... or emphasizing the elevated spiritual nature
of the relationship," Ms. Horst said. Further, women with a history of
childhood sexual trauma may be unsure of what contact is appropriate with
a male authority figure. During depositions in 1997, Mrs. Scott said that
her father had sexually abused her, and that as an adult she was raped
twice.

Focus on the Family director of counseling Willy Wooten compares the
sexual vulnerability of such women to the human immune system: If continually
attacked, it becomes run down and unable to fight off incursions. "The
same thing happens psychologically," he says: "Previously abused women
are more vulnerable to expecting that behavior from male authority figures.
They may not like it, but if they were always treated that way, they may
believe that's the way the world is, or at least that's the way it is for
them."

Whether a counselee is responsible for resisting such behavior is a
matter of hot debate. Some groups, such as the Collegeville, Minn.-based
Interfaith Sexual Trauma Institute, hold that the counselee is innocent
of wrongdoing. The pastor-offender, trusted and often imbued in the woman's
eyes
with godly authority (however unscriptural), is privy to intimate details
of her life. He can exploit that information to make her think he is the
only person she can trust—even above her husband. From that point, some
clergy-counselors manipulate the client into believing that sex with him
is therapeutic, even sanctified by God. The resulting liaison, particularly
in the case of a childhood abuse survivor, is like incest, ISTI maintains:
The father-figure is the perpetrator and the victim is blameless.

But George Scipione, director of the Institute for Biblical Counseling
and Discipleship in La Mesa, Calif., points out that childhood sexual abuse
manifests itself in ways other than sexual immaturity, such as lesbianism,
eating disorders, or substance abuse. "We don't tell the drug addict she
is not responsible for her drug use because she was abused," he says. "Instead,
we show her the freedom available in Christ and help her take responsibility
for her own actions."

Mr. Scipione emphasizes that the woman's responsibility doesn't shave
a scintilla of blame from the pastor. He is 100 percent to blame—before
God, the victim, involved families, his congregation, and sometimes the
law—for abusing his positional power and harming the woman: "This is real
evil in which pastors should be thrown out of the pastorate," Mr. Scipione
said. Still, he notes that the woman, as an adult, also is responsible
before God for her actions, in line with the biblical principle of personal
responsibility on the part of those attacked. Deuteronomy 22:23-27 gives
an example: A woman who is raped is innocent before God if she is attacked
in a place where no potential help is near—but if she is in the city, she
is innocent only if she cries out for help.

Donna Scott says she believed Mr. Cross's attempts to "instruct" her
sexually were meant to help her—particularly in light of his sex seminars.
Her marital sex life did improve. In addition, Mr. Cross moved very slowly.
According to Mrs. Scott's deposition, during 1991 and 1992, under the guise
of improving her sexual relationship with her husband, Mr. Cross made very
suggestive remarks to her, talked with her on the phone about sexual positions,
and ultimately engaged her in "phone sex." In his 1998 deposition, Mr.
Cross admitted having given the Scotts the pornographic material and talking
on the telephone with Mrs. Scott about sex. He acknowledged that in 1993
and 1994 he penetrated Mrs. Scott's private parts with his fingers, and
she fondled and kissed his private parts.

Throughout the duration of Mr. Cross's sexual contact with Mrs. Scott,
the Scotts were very active at Rosedale Park Baptist, and considered the
pastor their close friend. Mr. Scott often met Mr. Cross for breakfast
and accompanied him on speaking trips. Mrs. Scott, a self-employed writer
who had earned a master's degree in radio, television, and film, worked
with the pastor co-authoring books on such topics as Islam and biblical
manhood. One book, Wild Thing: Let's Talk About Sex, was based on Mr. Cross's
pastoral teaching about biblically approved sex; the book counsels young
people to avoid sex that is not thus "sanctified."

Mrs. Scott alleges that Mr. Cross at times quoted Scripture, assuring
her that God approved of their sexual contact. She provided considerable
specific, graphic detail about those alleged instances in deposition Exhibit
No. 1. In a January 2002 interview with WORLD, Mr. Cross denied having
told Mrs. Scott that God approved of their sexual contact. During his 1998
deposition he insisted that he was engaged in an "affair" and was responding
to Mrs. Scott's desires. He also maintains that the physical relationship
began after he terminated counseling with Mrs. Scott. Mrs. Scott disputes
that claim.

Still, Mr. Cross told WORLD he had "contributed to the problem of immoral
clergy behavior. I feel [Mrs. Scott] has some responsibility.... But part
of my repentance is to totally focus on my responsibility, my sin. I failed
the Lord, I failed my congregation, I failed the Scotts, I failed my wife,
I failed my children: I sinned against them."

Ultimately, Mr. Cross's female secretary exposed his behavior in June
1995, secretly taping voice-mail messages that revealed Mr. Cross was having
inappropriate contact with at least two women, including Mrs. Scott. Later
he would testify that he'd also touched that secretary's breasts, and had
counseled all three women. The secretary gave her tapes to Rosedale Park's
associate pastor Gregory Alexander.

Initially, Mr. Alexander said he thought that Pastor Cross might have
to step down from the pulpit. He confronted Mr. Cross, who admitted that
he had had inappropriate contact—but no intercourse—with the three women.
But the senior pastor refused to provide more details, and Mr. Alexander
didn't press. When Mr. Alexander questioned her in June 1995, Donna Scott
told him there had been no inappropriate contact. She told WORLD she said
that because she did not believe at the time that the contact had been
inappropriate, but believed instead Mr. Cross's alleged claim to be helping
her. Further, the Scotts did not learn immediately of Mr. Cross's contact
with the other women. And since they believed their pastor was their close
friend and marital savior, they interpreted the secretary's secret tapes
as an attempt to ruin a great man. "We even sent him cards saying we were
praying for him," Mrs. Scott remembers.

But Mr. Alexander and the Rosedale deacon board ultimately decided that
Mr. Cross need not give up preaching. Instead, he would have a window cut
into his door, no longer counsel women alone, have no further contact with
the Scotts, and undergo counseling. Mr. Cross later testified that he attended
at least seven counseling sessions. Mr. Alexander told WORLD he feels Rosedale's
leaders acted properly based on the information they had.

Writing to the Corinthian church, the Apostle Paul ordered tougher sanctions
for sexual immorality: "I am writing to you not to associate with anyone
who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality....
Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? ... Purge the
evil person from among you."

Rosedale Park Baptist's weak response to serial pastoral sexual misconduct
may well have been a foregone conclusion. The makeup of the church's leadership
raises serious questions about its ability—or motivation—to exact substantive
discipline. Mr. Alexander is Mr. Cross's brother-in-law. Together, they
appointed all five deacons, including Mr. Cross's father-in-law, Robert
Alexander.

Such leadership arrangements can create a dangerous accountability vacuum,
according to authors Mosgofian and Ohlschlager. Churches with a charismatic
leader, who need not report to others outside the church, may foster a
lack of accountability and information. In such churches, the congregation
is likely to rally to the side of the sexually offending pastor, label
the woman a Jezebel, and cast her out of the church. But churches that
are aware of this danger can require greater information flow. The Texas
Baptist General Convention (BGC), for example, recently adopted a CSA policy
that requires confrontation with the minister, full disclosure of charges
and any investigation to the church body, a formal hearing, and follow-up
counseling for all involved.

Rev. Mark Laaser is a former CSA perpetrator who now works to prevent
the problem. He recommends that seminaries train prospective pastors more
carefully in counseling ethics, and also in the intense emotional dynamics
involved in counseling —dynamics that if not carefully managed can lead
to sexual sin.

Groups such as the Texas BGC and the Interfaith Sexual Trauma Institute
suggest that churches educate laity about CSA, publish written guidelines
for reporting and investigating it, and perform background checks on prospective
pastors. A background check on Grace Christian Ministries pastor Michael
Altman would have revealed that he had served prison time for falsifying
a $50,000 loan application. It also would have shown that he was asked
to resign by two former congregations amid serious charges, according to
John Cooper, treasurer of the First Christian Church of Dothan, Ala., and
an elder at an Ontario, Canada, Church of Christ.

Marcia Bezak's civil suit against Mr. Altman is still pending in federal
court. He also faces a jury trial next month on criminal charges. But Mrs.
Bezak will not testify: In April 2001, facing a divorce from her husband,
she hanged herself.

After a criminal trial in Minnesota last year, Nazarene pastor Mervin
Kelley served a year in prison for sexually exploiting his female parishioner.
He was released from jail in February, but faces 14 years' probation and
must register as a sex offender. The parishioner has filed a civil suit
against Mr. Kelley and his former church.

Haman Cross Jr., however, was never held substantially accountable for
his serial misconduct, though his secretary was fired after her tapes revealed
it. Some church members heard rumors of "an affair" with Donna Scott, but
church leaders did not formally reveal the pastor's behavior to the congregation,
according to two former Rosedale members, one of whom said she waited a
year for church leaders to make a statement or apology to the congregation.
Those former members say that they, their families, and about 20 other
families, left the church.

In June 1995, the Scotts also left Rosedale; both testified that Pastors
Cross and Alexander had urged them to do so, a charge the pastors deny.
Mrs. Scott says she felt depressed and confused after leaving the church,
abandoned when she thought Mr. Cross had been helping her improve her marriage.
She sought counseling for depression with Christian therapist Marie Heitkamp.
Though she believed she and her husband had been unfairly "forced out"
of the church, she still believed Mr. Cross's disputed claim that his sexual
contact with her had been God's way of helping her overcome sexual dysfunction.
In late 1996, her new pastor explained to her, after Mrs. Scott confided
in him, that Mr. Cross's behavior was abusive. The realization, she says,
triggered nightmares and suicidal thoughts; she did not feel safe in church
and avoided the Bible.

In 1997, the Scotts filed suit against Mr. Cross and Rosedale Park Baptist
Church. They charged clergy malpractice, negligent supervision, breach
of fiduciary duty, and fraud. In addition, they sued for breach of implied
contract, since Mrs. Scott believed she was owed money for books and tapes
she had worked on for Mr. Cross and the church. The pastor and church countersued,
alleging defamation. According to the counter-complaint, Mrs. Scott had
damaged the church's reputation and also caused Mr. Cross to lose speaking
opportunities. Pursuant to Michigan law, mediators stepped in to settle
the case. They awarded the church $3,500, Mr. Cross $5,000, and the Scotts
$15,000.

But even after the lawsuit revealed to Rosedale Park leaders the details
of Mr. Cross's sexual misconduct with three parishioners, and that he had
violated the church's disciplinary order not to contact the Scotts, they
took no further disciplinary action. He continued as senior pastor at the
church, and also continued speaking at Campus Crusade events.

In 1997, Mrs. Scott telephoned Crawford Loritts, Crusade's associate
director of U.S. Ministries. She told him of her relationship with Mr.
Cross and overnight-mailed to him a version of what would become the lawsuit's
"Exhibit No. 1"—that detailed and sometimes graphic listing of alleged
sexual contacts between Mr. Cross and Mrs. Scott. The document lists several
instances in which Mr. Cross allegedly told Mrs. Scott that sex with him
would heal her incest wounds, and that God approved of their relationship.

In 1999, Mrs. Scott says she called Mr. Loritts again and told him she
believed Mr. Cross had lied during depositions in 1998. She says she offered
to send Mr. Loritts material about clergy sexual abuse, but that Mr. Loritts
refused and questioned her motives.

WORLD called Mr. Loritts to ask if Mrs. Scott's statements were true.
At first he refused to comment, then issued a written statement: "In 1997
I received communication containing allegations against Rev. Cross. As
I looked into the matter my inquiry led me to conclude that Rev. Cross'
church was not only aware of the allegations but they had or were addressing
them and that Rev. Cross continued to serve in his role as pastor of the
church. Since the local church, the body most familiar with the facts surrounding
the allegations against Rev. Cross, had not acted to remove him from his
position as pastor, Campus Crusade for Christ had no reason to alter its
occasional use of Rev. Cross as a speaker."

Certainly, Campus Crusade for Christ is a ministry known for its integrity—and
the integrity of its speakers. In the case of Haman Cross Jr., Mr. Loritts
declined to reveal the details of his inquiry with Rosedale Park Baptist
Church, or how he resolved questions over Mrs. Scott's detailed allegations.
He also declined to comment on the 1999 follow-up conversation alleged
by Mrs. Scott. Mr. Cross is scheduled to speak in June at Crusade's Student
Venture Conference in Colorado, an event for high-school students.

Meanwhile, the Scotts have moved on with their lives. From 1996 to 1999,
Donna Scott saw four different nonpastoral counselors and attended a support
group for victims of sexual abuse. By 1999 she felt ready to speak out
on behalf of other CSA victims. That year, she worked with the Michigan
legislature to make that state another where it is illegal for licensed
counselors to have sexual contact with clients and former clients.

"When I was raped, I fought back, and ran half naked out of my apartment
and hid in the bushes," she told lawmakers during official testimony. "When
my pastor deceived me, how could I fight back, when he was saying ... this
was part of God's plan to heal me? I knew what the rapist did was rape....
But my pastor, my counselor said this was help."

Campus Crusade for Christ last week suspended Pastor Haman Cross Jr.
from its roster of speakers following a WORLD report on clergy sexual abuse
("Breaking faith," published March 22, cover date March 30). The story
reported that Mr. Cross had been involved in inappropriate physical relationships
with three parishioners. In an internal memo dated April 2 Crusade President
Steve Douglass wrote, "Rev. Cross has been suspended as a speaker for Student
Venture and any of the other ministries of Campus Crusade for Christ, until
such a time that an investigation can be completed."

Mr. Cross is senior pastor at Detroit's Rosedale Park Baptist Church,
and has been a well-known speaker on sexual purity for Crusade and other
evangelical ministries. During a 1997 lawsuit, he admitted to having various
levels of sexual contact with three women whom he also had counseled, and
also to giving pornographic materials to one woman, Donna Scott. Mrs. Scott
said she contacted Campus Crusade associate director of U.S. ministries
Crawford Loritts in 1997 and 1999, and informed him of Mr. Cross's sexual
contact with her. Still, Mr. Cross continued to speak at Crusade events,
most recently in January 2001.

Mr. Douglass's April 2 memo elaborates on Mr. Loritts's 1997 response
to Mrs. Scott's allegations: "Upon hearing of the initial charges made
against Rev. Cross ... [Mr. Loritts] immediately looked into the matter.
[Mr. Loritts] was assured by Rev. Cross and others that Rev. Cross did
not commit what was alleged. Only recently did [Mr. Loritts] become aware
that there may be additional facts regarding this situation."

"Recently" means Feb. 14, 2002, according to Crusade spokesman Mark
DeMoss. That's when WORLD contacted Mr. Loritts and U.S. ministries director
Chuck Price about Mrs. Scott's relationship with Mr. Cross, and Mr. Loritts's
knowledge of that relationship. On March 19, WORLD learned that Mr. Cross
was scheduled to speak in June at a conference for Student Venture, Crusade's
high-school ministry. As of March 25, three days after WORLD's report on
clergy sexual abuse was published, Mr. Cross was still listed as a speaker
for the June Student Venture event.

The reason Crusade did not "move quicker or more decisively on this,"
Mr. DeMoss said, "was that, given their relationship with Haman, they owed
it to Haman to verify information, to talk to Haman, to look for this public
record that [WORLD] referred to ... and not just to make this decision."
As of April 2, Mr. DeMoss said, "Crusade has been able to learn enough
to comfortably make this decision about Haman's speaking."

Encounter with her minister broke trust, but not faith

March 28, 2002

BY DESIREE COOPER

FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

When Donna Scott filed a lawsuit alleging her clergyman had sexually
abused her, she wasn't a child, but a wife and mother. And the alleged
attacker was not a Catholic priest, but a Protestant minister.

"You're a 40-year-old with a master's degree," she told herself. "Who's
going to believe you?"

The current focus on Catholic priests who have abused children is important,
said Scott, but it obscures a larger issue: The violation of worshipers
of all religions by members of the clergy.

In a 1984 Fuller Seminary of California survey of about 1,100 Protestant
clergy, 38.5 percent admitted to inappropriate sexual contact and 12.7
percent had engaged in sexual intercourse with a church member.

Gary Schoener is a Minnesota clinical psychologist and national expert
on sex abuseby clergy. During the last 30 years, he's consulted in more
than 2,000 such cases across all faiths. He estimates that two-thirds of
his cases involved Protestant ministers.

"But Protestant cases are tougher to bring," said Schoener, who runs
the Walk-In Counseling Center in Minneapolis. "With the exception of the
United Methodists, you can't charge a diocese, synod or bishop with failure
to supervise or negligent retention of an offending minister because they
don't employ the pastor -- the congregation does."

Scott said that when she sought counseling with her pastor in 1989,
she already was deeply wounded. A victim of both incest and rape, she was
having intimacy problems with her husband after the birth of their child.

The pastor worked with the couple but gradually suggested that Scott
attend the sessions alone for "sex therapy," Scott alleged.

"I was the kind of woman who would never have considered having an affair,"
said Scott, adding that she and the minister never had intercourse. "Instead,
the pastor convinced me that sexual contact with him would help heal my
incest wounds."

After the abuse was revealed in 1996, the minister admitted in court
recordsto having consensual sexual contact with Scott. He remained in the
pulpit while Scott said she was ostracized from the church.

She considered filing charges, but discovered there was no Michigan
law banning sexual relationships between counselors or clergy and their
clients. In 1997, she filed a civil suit that was mediated without a judgment
of liability.

"People don't understand what it's like to have your faith twisted by
a minister," said Scott. "They don't need a knife or a gun. Their weapon
is trust."

The ordeal left Scott suicidal. Her search for answers led her to a
book, "Faithful & True," written by recovering sex addict and pastor,
Mark Laaser.

"I couldn't believe a member of the clergy had offended and was accepting
complete responsibility for his actions," said Scott.

She called him.

Inside the mind of a perpetrator

By the time Scott called, Laaser already had spent years trying to answer
her primary question: Why?

He was a Princeton-trained pastor with a PhD in religion and psychology
-- and had what he says was an addiction to sex with adult, female clients.

After 10 years of trying to cope on his own, he got therapy. The recovery
experience made him want to help prevent abuse at the hands of clergy.

As a former abuser, he was able to address Scott's question about why
people with religious authority would abuse that trust.

"A common denominator is the spiritual and emotional immaturity of the
offender," said Laaser. "Loneliness, immaturity and anger can lead them
past their own discipline and moral boundaries to act out sexually."

He said that there is no way to predict whether someone is at risk for
sexual misconduct. Signs include passive aggression, inability to be intimate,
obsessions with pornography and marital problems.

"But the biggest factor," said Laaser, "is whether the clergy" member
"has been sexually abused."

He said that if these traits can be identified before a person enters
the clergy, that person can receive help before entering a profession of
helping others.

In 1995, Laaser joined a group determined to help. Concerned about allegations
of sexual misconduct against someone in the monastic community, the priests
at St. John's Abbey and University in Minnesota created the Interfaith
Sexual Trauma Institute.

The ISTI board was an ecumenical mix of abuse victims, perpetrators
and the professionals who treated them both, and clergy. During the years,
they've generated a wellspring of articles, procedures and guidelines to
end sex abuse by clergy members.

Laaser compares clergy sexual assault to incest.

"The clergy becomes a surrogate father figure, and the victim transfers
to the minister spiritual and emotional authority," said Laaser, who speaks
nationally on the issue of sex abuse by clergy. "What makes clergy abuse
worse is the effect it also has on the victim's relationship with God."

Scott has had to resist the urge to eschew her faith in the wake of
her alleged abuse.

"It's hard to remember that God didn't do that to me -- a sick person
did," she said. "Why should I let him take away my faith, too?"

From victim to victor

After Scott talked with Laaser on the phone, he had an idea. He invited
her to a June 1999 ISTI conference to do a joint presentation on congregational
responses to abuse by clergy.

It wasn't thefirst time she would speakpublicly about her experience.
In 1998, she'd contacted her state legislator to voice a concern: "I found
out that we didn't have any laws in Michigan to address abuse in a trust
relationship," she said. "I decided that needed to change."

She testified in support of a bill that took effect in March 2001, making
it a fourth-degree criminal sexual assault for any mental health professional
to have sexual contact with a client within two years of treatment. Violations
are misdemeanors punishable by up to two years in prison and a $500 fine.
Although the final bill did not specifically include clergy, Scott said
it's a "step in the right direction."

She's learned to value small steps toward healing. After her presentation
at the conference, she was invited to serve on its board. There, she continues
to work beside Laaser to prevent others from suffering as she has.

"I almost lost everything," she said of her experience with the pastor
she sued. "But I never lost God."

To contact the Interfaith Sexual Trauma Institute, call 320-363-2011
or visit www.csbsju.edu/isti.
For victim's resources by county, visit www.michigan.gov
and search for the Domestic Violence Resource Directory.

Protestant ministers face own sex scandals

By Larry Witham THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The evangelical newsmagazine World responded to the sexual-abuse crisis
among Catholic clergy with a recent cover story advising "parental discretion"
and warning readers of "offensive material."

But Catholic priests were not the subject.
"The Protestant church has a severe problem of its own: some pastoral
counselors having sex with counselees," World reported.

Reports suggest that while most Catholic cases involve homosexual priests
latching onto young boys, Protestant cases tend to be ministers preying
on women.

"What's striking about this is that Catholics are not alone," said the
Rev. John Lundin, a Lutheran pastor and chairman of the Interfaith Sexual
Trauma Institute. "It's not just children, it's also adults."

The World article detailed the cases of three ministers — independent,
Nazarene and Baptist — who pleaded that their sex with women seeking counseling
was "consensual." Ministers serve a range of Protestant churches that lack
a male celibate priesthood and hierarchy.

Twenty states make sexual contact by counselors with clients a potential
crime. In general, counseling and social-work associations declare that
sex with clients is unethical.

Clergy misbehave sexually no more than the general population, and probably
less, researchers agree, but receive scrutiny because of their positions
of trust — and accompanying power.

"The prevalence of the problem is something most denominations have
no way of tracking," said Ian Evison of the Alban Institute in Bethesda,
which advises mostly Protestant churches.

If statistics on Catholic cases are sketchy, they are nebulous for Protestants
and usually come to light only because of church or court hearings.

Mr. Lundin said research on Protestant clergy shows a growing problem
with Internet pornography and that Christian leaders reared with "a sinful
emphasis" on sex can become more obsessed with its temptations.

"They've not understood that it is God's gift" for marriage, he said.

With a more local and lay-governed system of hiring and dismissing clergy,
the exact nature of misbehavior may not come to light because of a "culture
of secrecy," he said. "When a boundary has been violated, it is very hard
for the next minister," he said.

With the Catholic publicity, the Episcopal Church has seemed most willing
to disclose its own problems, mainly to assure churchgoers that strict
safeguards are now in place.

"Instances of pedophilia have occurred in the Episcopal Church," the
Episcopal News Service reported. A church school in Charleston, S.C., reached
a $105 million settlement over abuse by a lay teacher, and in 1991 a woman
won a $1.2 million ruling against the bishop of Denver over an errant priest.

Abuse watchdog groups say there are no clergy categories in abuse monitoring,
either for lack of data or too few incidents to calculate. But clergy do
hold a classic position of trust in society, they say.

"The group having the highest propensity of abuse are parents, people
they know, and caregivers," said Bob Cooper, executive director of the
National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse.

He said sexual exploitation of "vulnerable" women seeking pastoral care
is a part of the abuse spectrum. "This negates any sort of age limit,"
he said.

In all, pedophilia among ministers is rarest of all violations, though
they are most reviled and lead to the most damaging lawsuits, especially
if church authorities ignored the problem.

The most recent surveys of Protestant clergy show divorce rates nearly
on par with the general public. Female ministers divorce more before ordination,
and men typically as pastors.

Also, more liberal traditions have higher divorce rates, while they
are less in conservative denominations. Divorce is attributed to stress
of full-time ministry, but it is assumed to involve some cases of adultery.

Mr. Evison said claims about celibacy creating the Catholic crisis are
hard to sustain in light of the Protestant experience with married and
female clergy.

"Well, the Protestants are living proof that you can still have serious
abuse problems," he said.

Rev. Jack Gordon, former minister, and elder in the Evangelical Free
Church, disclosed his adult homosexual tendicies toward a member early
in the ministry of PeaceMakers International and was imediately removed
from ministry pending Biblical repentance. Rev. Gordon refused Biblical
repentance and Biblical restoration, leaving PeaceMakers, going to Willow
Creek Community Church. Later, Rev. Gordon was caught by Federal
authorities trafficking in child pornography. Here is Rev. Gordon's
posting on the Illinois Sex Offenders